by Brit Blaise
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Amber Quill Press
www.amberquill.com
Copyright ©2007 by Brit Blaise
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NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.
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WANTON WARRIOR
By
BRIT BLAISE
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ISBN 978-1-60272-033-6
Amber Quill Press, LLC
www.amberquill.com
Also By Brit Blaise
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Cave Creek Cowboy
Cave Creek Cowboy Christmas
Cave Creek Cowboy In Vegas
Cave Creek Cowboy: Too Many Brides
Fix This!
Out Of Space
Music Man
Two Weeks In Paradise
The Virginia Model-Logues
Wild And Wanton
CHAPTER 1
Planet Tarra, 2299
"This is what we both get for not grabbing any cock we could find and holding on for dear life."
"Speak for yourself!” Tye's sister growled and tossed the remainder of her cup of cacan onto the fire blazing in the large open hearth. A hiss and curl of smoke accompanied the gesture. The sweet fragrance from the tanco wafted in the chilled morning air. “There's no way you'd get me anywhere near any part of a Metran man, and especially not that particular part. They're a collective society of misogynists and bigots."
While Tye didn't always care for the rules set forth by the men of Metra colony, she hesitated to call them woman-haters. “You wouldn't marry, even to save our home, Wyn? What do you think will happen to us if Father dies? We'll end up indentured servants on this very farm where we've lived our entire lives. I'll survive, but you, my dear sister, are far too beautiful to be ignored for long by the men of this colony."
Wyn narrowed her gorgeous yellow-green eyes fringed with coal black lashes. Her already generous chest expanded with a deep sigh and she tossed her black mane back over her tiny shoulders. Everything about Wyn differed from Tye, but her size most of all. Less than five feet, Wyn reached only to Tye's shoulders.
"I can't marry a Metran,” Wyn said. “I'd much prefer death."
Tye believed her, but no way would she reveal how she'd come to her certainty. She may not know much about mating rituals, but she knew Wyn's lovers had all been women, even though, on all the colonies on the planet Tarra, such relationships were forbidden upon penalty of death.
Tye, on the other hand, liked men just fine, as far as she knew. And therein lay the problem—with a sister as breathtaking as Wyn, no one even gave Tye a second look. Unlike her beautiful sister, Tye resembled the ass-spores on a slimy kivla. No man had ever expressed interest in mating with her, even to gain access to property worth a small fortune.
"It's all up to you, Tye,” Wyn said. “You have to find a mate and do it quickly before anyone discovers how ill Father really is."
How? Tye knew she wasn't mating potential. And she didn't have a clue how to seduce a man. Wyn had never given her any advice, and their mother had died while both girls were young. “Let's worry about it after the harvest. We have to get out there before someone comes looking for Father."
"You go ahead.” Wyn sat her empty cup on the mantle and walked toward the stairs. Tye fought back the jealousy she harbored for her sister's tiny, perfect figure. It grew more difficult with the passing of time, especially when the Metran men made sport of Tye's six-foot frame.
One of the hardest things in life was having the perfect sister.
"I'll help Father out onto the balcony to watch the proceedings.” Wyn paused on the stairs to look back at Tye over her shoulder. “As long as people see him, no one will question if you oversee the heralding of the harvest for him. And for the goddess's sake, please be careful. Stay out of the fields."
Tye had a nervous bubble in her stomach that threatened to come out, and bring her hastily eaten meal with it. If they could make it through these perilous six days, they'd be safe until the next lunar year. They just needed to buy time. Time to figure out what had made their healthy patriarch fall ill, and to find a cure for him. Or time for one of them to marry so they could keep the tanco farm. Women on Metra colony couldn't hold land in their own names. One of them needed to find a husband ... or else.
The front door slammed, and Tye jumped. Certain she'd locked it, she immediately knew who dared such an act of impropriety. There was only one man on Hajan Farm who had the nerve to come inside their family home. No one on the planet Tarra entered the threshold of another's inner sanctum without a clear-cut invitation. The penalties were too steep.
Did she dare use it to her advantage? Tye had been looking for a way to put their overseer in his proper place. Could this be the chance she'd been hoping for?
She made up her mind in the fury of an instant, a faulty trait none of her family shared with her.
She quickly shrugged out of the warmth of her moram, the traditional shapeless sack dress of the Metran women. Tye turned her back to the doorway, while she stood naked in front of the fireplace and waited ... and shivered from head to toe. It wasn't just the cold air at her back, but the fact she'd never been naked in front of anyone, not even her sister.
"Where are your clothes, woman?” The voice of their overseer boomed at her naked backside only seconds later. It took everything she had not to flinch or fly from the room.
"Where are your manners? How dare you—” Tye took a swift breath and turned to face their overseer, Fucian.
Only he wasn't alone!
Tye's heart dropped in her chest, while her nipples, assaulted by the cold air, thrust forward to wave. What had she done? “How did you get in here? The door was locked."
Tye didn't know what to do. Her brazen ploy had backfired in her face. She'd thought to teach Fucian a lesson once and for all, and now what? How could she extract herself from this fiasco with a modicum of self-respect or worse?
"Are you two promised?” The stranger audaciously stared at her nakedness without shying away. If she'd thought her nipples were hard before, they suddenly grew. Gooseflesh covered every inch of her and not only from the cold. Her teeth began to chatter and it took every ounce of willpower not to wrap her arms around her breasts or cover her mound with her hands.
Fucian began to physically squirm. His face showed the rage he'd yet to release. “I—I—"
Tye needed to be strong. If there ever was a time she considered it necessary to take control, it was now. “Fucian has been told to never enter this house without first seeking permission. It would serve him right if I made him marry me."
"What about him?” Fucian pointed to the stranger. “He has looked upon you, too."
Look at her? He was devouring her. His gaze blazed a trail from her perky nipples down to the juncture of her legs. When he didn't look away, and especially when moisture began to slide down her channel and dampen her thighs, Tye had to do something quick.
"Then you choose the alternative?” she demanded loudly. “You would rather die than mate with me?"
The stranger finally looked away from her cunt. However, when he stared directly into her eyes, she didn't know if it wasn't worse.
"I said no such thing.” Fucian's angry tone matched hers. “I meant we're equally at fault."
"Your key opened the door,” the stranger said, while he continued to allow his gaze to heat her skin from head to toe, but mostly he stared at the juncture
of her legs with his large, amber eyes.
Fucian, however, stared at his muddied boots instead.
"Drop your key on the floor,” Tye demanded, as was her right. She had no idea Fucian even had a key to her home, but suddenly pieces of a dreadful puzzle began to fall into place. “We don't have time for this now. This matter will be settled after the harvest by my father. Now leave me in peace!"
Both men bowed, but the stranger didn't lower his golden cat-eyes. To make matters more absurd, he had a queer smile on his full, sensuous lips. Tye didn't know what to make of it. By law, they had violated her in the worst possible way and so, one must ask for her hand in marriage.
It was written. So it must be.
She'd intended to use the occasion to blackmail her slimy overseer into submission and never dreamed he wouldn't be alone. She knew he hated her and would never speak of her nakedness.
Her thoughtless action had signed someone's death warrant. More than likely her own.
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Cradon couldn't believe his good fortune. Never in a thousand moons had he expected a Metran heiress to give herself to him within minutes of his arrival. If he could keep his true identity secret until he won her heart, he might even have a chance of saving the people of his colony from extinction.
He pulled at his taut alpana-skin breeches to ease the tightness caused by the lustful fire she'd started in his groin. She'd made him so hard it hurt. That alone made her worthy of his attention, but the land and tanco harvest made an alliance with her a necessity for survival.
Cradon had heard tales of the Hajan sisters, Tye and Wyn. He figured at the very least to get the homely one to marry him or die trying. But to have a chance with the renowned beauty half the male population of Metra wanted as a mate ... The memory of her creamy white skin against the foam of black curls flashed in his brain.
"I hate that creature with a passion.” Fucian threw a rock against the door. “Tye Hajan did this on purpose, witch that she is. I have no doubt she did it purposely. By the goddesses, she knew I wanted her sister, not her, the bitch!"
Cradon couldn't quite believe what he heard. Did Fucian mean to say the naked woman he'd still lusted after was not the beauty of Metra? “Perhaps she won't speak of this to anyone, and both of us will be free from her valid claim. Although we both know it is written. One of us must marry her.” Cradon wanted to make certain the overseer understood, he, too, must be considered.
"Not speak of it? She will shout her success from the rooftop. The ugly bitch! Valid or no, she better hope I marry her before her father dies, or she'll end up chained out back next to the bathhouse and be used only to satisfy my baser urges."
It was true. The absurd men in the colony of Metra considered her unattractive.
Fools.
Cradon didn't expect to get the memory of her to stop dominating his mind any time soon. Nor would it be necessary, if his fortune held. “Did you forget I also looked upon her naked body along with you? Or perhaps you have prior claim to her?"
Fucian's almost colorless eyes narrowed. “Don't get ahead of yourself, protector. One of us will wed her and one will die. Marriage is bad enough, but I won't be the one to lose his life for the stinking whore. I'm the overseer here. You are here for six days and then you'll be on your way back to Fani colony where you belong, if you're lucky. And if you think a stranger can get his cock inside her before I do ... you're a fool. Go about your business, before I take back my generous offer."
"I thought you said the Hajan family was desperate? Seems to me the tables have turned."
Fucian took a menacing step toward him. Cradon held his ground. No way would a Metran overseer get the best of a Tifcan warrior. Cadites were well versed in the art of warfare, but being Tifcan gave Cradon an additional edge an ordinary Cadite didn't have. None on the entire planet knew all the secrets of the Tifcan warriors, not even his own people. Nor could Fucian know how close he was to death if he took another step.
No one could know or all would be lost.
CHAPTER 2
Tye stepped up onto the copper-clad platform in front of the crowd gathered for the ceremonial beginning of the harvest. She eased the silver gong from the crystal case and held it reverently. So much depended on the outcome of these next six days in the fields.
She took a deep breath and was ready to hit the copper clapper when she noticed only three men stood waiting at the gate. There had been four promised as protectors for the harvest. Now, only the devastatingly handsome stranger who'd seen her naked and two of the villagers’ sons stood ready, their swords raised above their heads.
What now?
They couldn't proceed with only three protectors.
Nor had she realized the man with Fucian earlier, the one who'd seen her naked, was a protector. He stood ready at the gate, towering above the rest. His long, blond hair was pulled back at his nape and it fell just short of caressing the taut muscles of his bottom covered with alpana leathers. He wore no shirt, and his back rippled with muscles as he held his sword over his head and readied to enter the fields.
She shot a look to their overseer, who shrugged his shoulders at her apparent quandary. The slimy son-of-a-kivla. Had he planned this disaster to make her appear inept among the men of Metra? No way would she allow him to get away with this. Not now.
Tye motioned for Fucian to step nearer and a self-satisfied smirk passed over his face. Let him smirk! It seemed her earlier indiscretion would come in handy after all.
Fucian joined her to stand next to the ceremonial gong with all the pomp one would expect from an overseer of the likes of Hajan Farm. What did he plan? She leaned close so no one would overhear. “You promised my father you could supply two men from Fani for the harvest. I don't know what you hope to accomplish with this, but you will be the fourth protector or else."
"Or else?” Fucian raised a haughty, white, trimmed and styled eyebrow. “You think you can threaten me, woman?"
"I will claim the stranger as my mate this minute in front of all these witnesses and expose your indiscretion. The honor of my mate will demand your death.” She watched Fucian's handsome face grow even paler, if possible, at her words.
"You wouldn't dare. If anyone has to marry you, it will be me."
"Trust me. I dare that and more ... so much more. The one right Metran men have not taken from us women is the right to choose our own mate. When forced between the two of you, I choose the stranger. Now will it be death or the harvest?"
His strange, almost white, eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. Everything about Fucian was white. And today, like every other, he dressed from head to foot in white. She'd never liked the man, but right then she almost felt sorry for him...
Almost.
"Claim him then.” Fucian called her bluff and smiled triumphantly.
Did she dare? “I shall.” She raised her hand and a hush fell over the crowd who, by now, had also noticed only three men stood at the gates. “Attention."
Fucian grabbed hold of her wrist and jerked her hand down. People gasped. What had he been thinking to touch her in public? He'd sealed his fate if she spoke of what happened earlier with his careless deed. His action also caused the stranger to turn and look at her for the first time.
If only he had not!
No man deserved to be this beautiful. The muscles on his chest and stomach bulged as he continued to hold his broad-sword aloft. His skin was golden. Every thing about him was gold, except the glint of steel from his sword.
She forced herself to look away before her thoughts showed on her face. Instead, she concentrated on Fucian and what she must do. “You know there must be an even number of protectors and no less than four.” She'd fervently hoped for six, but would settle for only four. The law wouldn't permit less. “It is written."
Fucian threw his hands into the air with exaggerated flare. She understood he hoped to make her appear inept. Nor did he consider she'd be successful in her attempt to recruit him to t
he post of fourth protector. “I have no sword."
She waved Fucian's assistant near. “Never fear, I'm certain it can be arranged."
"Bitch!” His foul kivla breath fanned her hair and she drew back. May the goddesses have mercy if she had to take this man to her bed! Wyn's claim death would preferable suddenly had merit.
Tye had always suspected Fucian hated her, but his vile, public name-calling confirmed it. What would he do to gain control of her father's land? There wasn't time to argue when a harvest waited. “I'm counting to three, Fucian. One ... two..."
"Enough!” Fucian said and turned to his personal assistant. “Bring me a sword. I shall compete."
The crowd cheered when Fucian took his place by the gates. The striking stranger lowered his sword and gave Tye a salute. His attention sent chills down her spine. His bright amber eyes heated her again, much as they had when he'd stared where no man ever had. Not even Fucian, who'd been more interested in his muddy boots, had dared look at her nakedness. This one had not only looked, he'd branded her.
She shook off the sensations crawling along her skin as she remembered and drew her arm back. She banged the gong. “Go to your champion."
The workers whose names were drawn by lottery, quickly lined up behind the man they believed most likely would save them from death. The protector who successfully kept the alpana from devouring the most workers would win a hefty monetary prize, if he lived to claim it.
The alpana were a curse and plague to the people of Metra. The cat-like beast's mating season was the same time as the harvest. They killed indiscriminately in the tanco fields, but usually only there for whatever reason. Tye had never seen one outside of the walled fields that stretched before her, but heard them daily.
They intrigued her and often, when no one was watching, she'd shimmy up the fence to the century post in the hopes of catching sight of one. On days when she was patient she saw them. The big, golden alpana were amazing to behold—a fearsome, inspiring sight.
